Pipe-cleaner.



J. PFISTER.

PIPE CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED 0on2. 1914.

1 04,587, Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

JAooB PFISTER, 0F ROCHELLE PARK, NEW JERSEY.

PIPE-CLEANER.

Specification of Letters rarent. P t nt 14, 19 1 Application filed October a, 1914. Serial No. 864,609.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JACOB PrisTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at B0- chelle Park, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pipe-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to pipe cleaners, particularly of the general character set forth inmy prior Patent No. 1,057 ,771, in the respect of having a wire body of chenille, or other character, adapted to be pushed into a pipe stem from the mouthpiece end thereof. This body is usually followed by a comparatively larger portion which fits like a piston so as to clean or purge the pipe stem effectively. In my prior patent means are provided for drawing the piston portion of the cleaner through the pipe stein and out through the bowl, and the character of this operation and the advantages thereof are set forth in said patent.

Thepresent application consists inan im proved cleaner which is simpler and much cheaper as well as more effective than the patented device.

Briefly stated the present invention consists in a tool for engaging the plain end of the Wire within the bowl of the pipe, and so grasping and gripping the same as. to draw the wire powerfully through the stem with all the force of its inherent tensile strength, the whole device being furthermore so simple and cheap as to make it a satisfactory advertising medium as well as an item of negligible expense to users.

In certain respects modification is possible without sacrificing all or some of the advan tages; for example, it is evidently not absolutely necessary to have a wire cleaner with an enlarged or piston portion at the end, since an ordinary chenille cleaner can be advantageously used as part of a device embodying this invention, although with somewhat lessened efiiciency by reason of the strongly purging action of the closely fitting and powerfully impelled piston, which is the preferred arrangement.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a sectional view of an ordinary pipe having a cleaner body within the stem thereof, and a hook forming, hook engaging, gripping and pulling tool within the bowl, as embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the end of the tool in the pipe bowl of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a modification thereof. Fig. 4 is a further modification. Fig. 5 shows another form of tool hereafter specially referred to and having special characteristics of action. Figs. 6 and 7 show forms of standard metal too The best constructions embodying the in- V ven'tion will include, besides the wire body as above mentioned, a tool which may be described as a. combined hook engaging, gripping, and pulling tool, which acts in conjunction with the wire body. The wire body is the usual slender and somewhat flexible structure 1, formed either of a single wire, or pair of wii-es,on which fibers 2 are attached, like chenille. The fibers may be longer at one end of this wire body so as to constitutean enlargement 3 of as great effective diameter as desired. Or the wire may be curled into a spiral, as particularly illustrated in my prior patent or other zig-zag form. Any form of enlargement on the wire body may of course be used.

The combined hook engaging, ripping, and pulling tool will comprise a solidmember 4 with a handle portion 5 of sufficient size to be firmly grasped in the hand, and an end or extension 6 which can fit down in the bottom of any pipe bowl. At the end of this extension 6 a slot 7 is provided which can be readily punched out in a die press, which'furthermore gives the advan tage of having somewhat sharp and ragged edges on the side of the slot, for purposes which will later appear. The slot 7 extends longitudinally of the tool end 6 to quite close to the bottom end of the tool, so

that this end 6, when thrust down into the bowl of the pipe, will cause the slot 7 to lie practically in line with the bore of the stem. The pipe bowl generally tapers at the bottom, with an axis intersecting the axis of the stem. When such tool is thrust down in the bowl, therefore, with the slot 7 in substantial alinement with the bore of the stem, such slot is adapted to receive the chenille or other wire body thrust through the stem, which wire body passes a short distance through the slot.

In Fig. 2 the slot has approximately a key hole shape with'a round or enlarged upper part or entrance and a narrow and preferably V-shaped downward extension, the latter being so narrow as to bite upon the plain end of the ordinary cleaner. WVith a slot of this character the lifting of the tool engages the wire cleaner body so closely in the narrow or bottom portion of the slot as to grip or bite it with sufiicient force to permit its being drawn through the pipe stem. In place of a slot shown in Fig. 2 the slot may be of long and narrow or rectangular shape as shown in Fig. 3. It is desirable to give such tool as that of Fig. 3 a twist or turn, which results in forming a hook on the wire.

The slot is ordinarily a narrow one, and this fact, together with the fact previously mentioned thatin ordinary cases the edges of the slot will be partly rough or ragged, results in a very powerful gripping, engage ment between the tool and the wire, when the wire is given such a turn or twist as described, and which forms a hook thereon within the pipe bowl. Therefore, when the tool is pulled out, the wire is pulled through with substantially as great force as its own tensile strength. This results in pulling the piston powerfully through the stem and eifectively cleaning the latter. Any deposits are therein drawn out through the bowl.

The form of the tool may vary somewhat. as

previously mentioned, for example, in place of a substantially rectangular slot this slot may be tapering, that is narrower at the bottom than at the top (see Fig. 6) so that as the tool is pulled upward the tapering slot.

tends to bite upon the wire independently of any hook formed on the wire. In fact this engagement may be so strong that the forming of the hook on the wire will not alagain, so that they meet at the very bottom or end of the tool with their fiat faces again in contact. This results in a lens shaped opening 12 with very sharp or V-shaped ragged edges, which furthermore taper toward one another, running into a very sharp V at the bottom. The engagement of this character of tool with an ordinary wire, as chenille, is so effective that it is seldom necessary to give the twist or turn otherwise required for making a hook on the wire. In the event, however, that the wire is plain, or other than the usual twisted chenille, such turn or twist may be necessary or desirable.

The tool may be formed of stout wire or sheet metal, and in either case may be impressed or stamped with any suitable advertising inscription in an obvious manner. Where sheet metal is used the slot at the bottom may take the form of a single circular hole, which can be brought down in line with the bore of the stem, and which will constitute a means for receiving the wire body and subsequently twisting the latter into a hook. Such round opening is however less effective than the elongated slot, in that it grips the wire less strongly, and furthermore is more diflicult to bring into line with the bore of the pipe stem.

What is claimed is A tool adapted for use with pipe cleaners comprising a handle, ashank, said shank having a slot or end opening and adapted to be thrust into the bowl of a pipe to engage the end of the cleaner that projects into the bowl and bite the same when the tool is pulled from the bowl of the pipe. substantially as described. I

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 30th day of September, 1914.

JACOB PFISTER. Witnesses:

ALFRED W. PROCTOR, RAY LEVY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

